Images

November 28th – Probably the coldest commute of the winter so far, yet no ice, which was a bit odd – but the wind was bitter. Luckily I was wrapped up warm and didn’t really feel it much.

What there was though, were gorgeous azure blue skies silhouetting the shivering trees, now mostly devoid of leaves for winter.

‘I awoke this morning, and found a frost perched on the town’ wrote Joni Mitchell. The was no frost, but I know what she meant.

Oh well, onwards – soon be Christmas.

November 27th – A snatched, quick photo taken just after dawn in Jockey Meadows, between Shelfield and Walsall Wood. A pair of grey partridges, fluffed up in the cold, and sheltering from the wind in a tracker tire-rut.

It’s been years since I noticed partridges up here. Good to see them on a Monday morning.

November 20th – One of the joys of winter is riding in the forest at night. On the trail between Birches Valley and Fairoak, there wasn’t a soul around and I listened intently to the wildlife. In the undergrowth, mustelids and rodents scampered and scurried. A robin sang. Owls hooted and shrieked. Somewhere off in the distance, a deer stag was bellowing.

The forest at night isn’t scary or spooky – it’s beautiful and fascinating.

November 17th – Just after dawn, on a grass verge ion Darlaston a delicate Japanese parasol toadstool coated in what I think is the first frost of the year.

I was a real shock this morning to awake with a ground frost, and I rode carefully watching out for the old devil and adversary that is black ice, the wheel stealer.

So, it’s winter now, pretty much. The cold has come and Christmas is in sight. I’m ready. Bring it on. I’d like some real snow this year, please.

November 15th – And back, so it was, to Shenstone, an altogether different type of late-night feeling. This is a beautiful building, in a lovely location, and a great place to leave, but even better to return to.

I love it at night, the way it’s lit, the overhead wires, the sense of an island in the darkness. A beacon, calling me toward home, just a few miles to go.

A haunting, gorgeous station. 

November 13th – I wanted to take some pictures of Darlaston War Memorial with it’s proud array of wreaths and keepsakes, but perhaps fittingly, there were a class of primary school children there with their teacher, explaining the thing, was was heart-warming and most welcome.

Instead, I took a shot of the metal poppy ornamentation on the railings of Kings Hill Park, yet another beautiful feature of a remarkable place.

We shall never forget.

November 9th – Whilst at the war memorial, I spotted a bit of an anachronism outside the Post Office in Darlaston – this really reminded me of the heady days of the early internet revolution.

This red K6 phonebox has a banner sticker at the top pointing out you could once email and text from the phone there. I believe that was a late 90s/early 2000s thing and required a special phone to be installed in the phone booth with a qwerty keyboard – but I could be wrong. 

However it worked, I doubt theres a use for such things today with the rise of the smartphone – and I don’t know about you, but the very sight of someone using a phonebox these days looks a bit… shifty. 

How fast times have changed from ‘Press button A’!

November 8th – And further on, at the top end of Victoria Park, the trees look absolutely beautify now they’re shedding their leaves. Riding up around the park, it was good to see the guys from the council tidying and sprucing up the war memorial for Remembrance Sunday.

The day in prospect was making me heavy-hearted but with such a lovely start, it couldn’t be a bad day on the whole.